Wild night ends with a victory
LAS VEGAS — If the Blackhawks were playing hockey like a marathon earlier this season, they’re now playing it like a 100yard dash.
The Hawks and Golden Knights traded chances as if a 3-on-3 overtime extended into a full 60-minute game Wednesday, and yet again, the chaos paid off in a 5-3 win.
Jeremy Colliton’s decision to unleash the transition offense — which supposedly entailed only pushing their weak-side winger higher in the defensive zone, but seems to have changed the dynamic of the team far more than that — continues to revive the season.
The Hawks have earned seven of eight possible points since the scheme change and are now within three points of a wild-card spot with a game in hand. It’s obviously still November, so the intricacies of the standings are hardly relevant, but even getting back into the race seemed far-fetched a few weeks ago.
The pond-style hockey that the Hawks gleefully played worked because their defensemen jumped into rushes, and because Corey Crawford bailed them out on the other end.
Calvin de Haan and Erik Gustafsson both scored their first goals of the season seconds apart, upping the Hawks’ total goals from defensemen this year from three to five in a near instant. And Crawford made 39 saves on 42 shots, negating the Knights’ 35-23 scoring-chance advantage, as the Hawks enjoyed yet another strong netminding performance.
“It seems like the floodgates have opened a little bit and we’re scoring a ton of goals now,’’ de Haan said. ‘‘But the biggest part for us is our goaltending’s giving us a chance to win every night. That instill confidence in everybody on the ice and on the bench.”
The game itself could hardly have been more upside-down. Zack Smith and Jonathan Marchessault traded missed penalty shots; Smith later tallied two assists, his first two points of the season. De Haan’s goal was just his 14th in 394 career appearances. Even Alex DeBrincat got in a semi-fight.
That weirdness may simply become a regular byproduct of the
Hawks’ newfound aggressiveness, though, which has been technically in effect for four games but has really dialed up to 100 degrees the last two.
There’s also been one huge lift: Patrick Kane is back in superstar form. Kane blasted home a one-timer Wednesday and now has 14 points in his last seven appearances.
Kirby Dach (two-point night) and Dylan Strome (three-point night) also scored goals.
Murphy likely to return Saturday
The Hawks could get a huge boost Saturday against the Predators if Connor Murphy returns from his groin injury.
Murphy will be eligible to be activated from injured reserve, and Colliton said Wednesday that the chances of that happening “look good.” He has been practicing fully in the last week and is traveling on this two-game trip.
The 26-year-old defenseman was playing arguably the best hockey of his career, forming one-half of a stellar top pair with Duncan Keith, before the injury cost him the Hawks’ last 11 games.
Murphy was beaming after practice Tuesday while talking about his long-awaited — and now imminent — return.
“Any time you get hurt and you have to miss any games at all, it’s hard,” he said. “Especially when you want to have a strong start to the year . . . and roll for a whole season. But it’s in the past.”